Dr. Anne Woods, Professor, gained a B.Sc. in Cell Biology in 1972 at the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth, Wales, UK. She worked in industry at the Unilever Research Laboratories, Bedford, UK from 1973-1985. Dr. Woods gained her Ph.D. in Cell Biology from the University of Alabama at Birmingham in 1989, and joined the faculty in 1990. Leisure activities include travel, natural history, and antique furniture.

My research is aimed at understanding in molecular terms how cells adhere to extracellular matrix, and how they organize the matrix. Reciprocal cell-matrix interactions control cell growth, migration, differentiation, and matrix metabolism. These interactions are pivotal in cell development, and in many disease states including fibrosis, arthritis and cancer metastasis. The integrin family of transmembrane receptors binds to matrix molecules, such as fibronectin, and activates a number of signaling pathways. My research focuses on how another family of transmembrane receptors, the syndecans, act as coreceptors with integrins to modify the primary responses. Syndecans are heparan sulfate proteoglycans that bind matrix molecules, growth factors, lipases and morphogens through their glycosaminoglycan chains, but the intracellular signaling following ligation is only now being elucidated. We showed that syndecan-4 binds and activates protein kinase C alpha during adhesion to the matrix molecule fibronectin, modifying cytoskeletal responses. In contrast, syndecan-2 modifies matrix assembly mediated by integrins, but the intracellular signaling pathways involved are not yet known. We are using molecular biology, transfection studies, yeast two hybrid assays and biochemical analysis, together with classical cell biology microscopy, to determine intracellular, transmembrane and external binding partners for syndecans-2 and -4, and how kinase systems are controlled by this family of receptors.